Recently in creativity Category

The finished films from the WAM! BAM! competition can now be seen online.

Here's the winning film 'Kokarokadoo' plus 'Spermicide', 'Bee Titlated', 'Life Cycle of Bertram Beetle' and 'Crouching Tiger, Squatting Gorilla'

How to be creative and manage creative processes is a constant theme on this blog.   Why not hear how author Neil Gaiman gets his ideas?

Source: Craig Martin   

Take a look at this beautiful animation from Carlos Lascano.    See more of his work here.



A SHORT LOVE STORY IN STOP MOTION from Carlos Lascano on Vimeo.

The Drawing for Animators program had it's final session last night.   This course has been really important in responding to the needs of the local animation industry.   The final session involved some frantic drawing on huge pieces of papers taped to the walls.

It's been a great journey to see all these artists build their skills from sketchy styled drawings to confident animation styled lines.

'We the Robots' is an amusing and possibly inapproriate online comic.   Click on the entry at the botom of the archive list to start at the beginning.   It's a great example of how a stylish look does not have to be a perfect look, story and character shine through above all else.

The first week of 'Squoodle' featured experimentation with experimentation with cut out stop motion animation, at the end of the day we had three short films, one about a Bonobo with a laptop, another saw a Giraffe with an I-Pod, and a beautiful piece with leaves falling off trees.

It was a pretty chilled out day as we listedned to the sounds of Hot Chip, The Klaxons, The Pre-Sets and Tracey Thorn while drawing, animation and chatting.




 

This week I had the great pleasure of being a guest at a very forward thinking, modern, public high school in Perth.   I was visiting a group of 60 or more Year 8 students who are making a series of documentaries during this term.   Over the course of a few hours we talked about stories, the concept of the truth in documentary, the history and future of documentary films, tips for filmmaking, audience interest and so many other things about the filmmaking process.  

I asked the students, how many of them had a video camera at home, it was about 80 percent.     
I asked how many had a mobile phone with a camera, it was nearly everyone.
I asked who had made a film already, again it was around 80 percent.
I asked who had posted a film to a share site such as YouTube, 60 percent responded in the affirmantive.

When you stop and think about it the average age of the emrging filmmaker is dropping fast.   No longer is the up and comming new filmmaker a 25 year old or even a 20 year old, at FTI we see talented 15 year olds trying to get a look in.   Now if you think about funding schemes, training opportunities, production initinatives and entery level industry jobs, how many of these doors are available to the youngest of filmmmakers?

As students progress through primary and secondary education now they are regularly exposed to vision editing, using video cameras, and flash animation.   Each year the level of expertise held by an average Year 12 student will continue to rise.   So should we make all the restrictions on funding programs, courses and the rest be removed?   There is a certain logic that says 'Yes'.

However, there is another more obvious challenge.   Do 15 year old filmmakers have anything to say?   This is debatable, as many 20 year old filmmakers often make a plethora of angst filled films about tortured souls.   Maybe the real question is how do you challenge a young filmmaker to think beyond the norm and to present ideas and thoughts in a more creative context.

This is going to be one of the big challenges for screen educators and support agencies in coming years, finding the methodology and tools to work with the youngest of filmmakers and bring out the best in them.  

One great opportunities for young filmmakers that is specifically for them and already in existence is the 'Document Your World' competition at the Australian International Documentary Conference.   Teams of young filmmakers get a chance to pitch their ideas to ABC's JTV, in front of an audience  of experienced filmmakers and a panel of esteemed filmmakers.   I got the chance to see this in action at AIDC 2007 and the ideas put forward by the different teams were great.    It's brilliant to see that it will be back for AIDC 2008 which is being held right here in Perth.

For more information on this exciting initiative, visit www.aidc.com.au/marketplace/documentyourworld or the Hero Project at  www.directingthehero.com

       

Well we are six hours into the event and there is a lot of concentration in the room.   There is a family event outside in the park and local drummers are playing the bongo's, which gives the room a stange and tense atmosphere, as if a tribe of pygmi's may invade at any minute.

Local comic book artist Edward J Grug III is working hard on his contribution.   Last year Grugg was one of the artists featured in the offical publication so it''s great to see him back again.   Recently Grugg has been working on the comic 'Henry and Gil' which you can view online.

The international 24 Hour Comic Day has begun in Fremantle, the only official Australian location for this event.   Here's the deal, artists have just 24 hour to create a 24 page comic.   The Australian event began at 10:30am and a deadly silence has setttled over the Film and Television Institute as the artists begin their work.

There's not much to report so far, lots of artist drawing away, some on paper, some using laptop computers, some plotting out where to go, while others have launched straight into it.

The artists are spread over three rooms at the Institute, the Animation Lab, the Main Hall and the Conference Room.    There is gentle music playing and the sound of pencils scratching.  

Following on from my post about stop motion films earlier in the week, FTI member Magnus Reid has highlighted this great video.